Lost Love
by NitroStation
Summary: "You ever have someone like that, Optimus?" Short AOE oneshot with Optimus and Cade having a moment reminiscing about who they've lost. mentioned Optimus/Elita One


_So, I finally saw Age of Extinction yesterday, and I **loved **it; honestly. Maybe because it's the first time I've seen a TF movie in theaters, but it really just blew me away. And when this one scene cropped up, where Optimus says something about putting up with Bumblebee during puberty, I knew I had to have some Cade and OP bonding over family- in particular, losing their wives (or in Optimus' case, his sparkmate). It's short, but I hope it will serve for some good ol' Elita One feels._

**xx**

"HEY! No smooching in front of me!" Optimus wasn't clear on what that was, but it must have involved Tessa and Shane being entangled together as they reluctantly moved away from each other after Cade barked at them.

"Ugh, Dad, who even says 'smooching'?" Tessa's father didn't need Cybertronian audios to hear her mumble of disbelief. He scoffed, even though Optimus sensed this was a regular exchange between the two humans.

"Teenagers. No respect!"

"I went through the same thing with Bumblebee." Despite their situation Cade couldn't hide a smile and a huff of laughter, and he looked sideways to where the Prime stood beside him.

"Never thought I'd be relating to a giant robot from outer space. Though I guess Bumblebee never really grew out of it, did he?"

"Don't let him hear you say that," Optimus warned, but there was a chuckle hidden in his voice. "Some bots will always be young in their spark. Even with the war, they never lose that." He glanced over to Tessa as she marched to a far corner of the building, frustration in every step she took. "But considering your daughter... I sense her mind is older than her body would suggest. She is rebellious now, but she will be a wise woman, one day."

"Yeah, I guess you're right... she takes after her mother." Cade sighed and leaned back on the wall, closing his eyes for a few long seconds. "Wonder what she'd be saying now, me dragging our baby girl into an alien war."

"I presume she is no longer with you?" Optimus found himself compelled to delve deeper- if only to stop his processor from dwelling on how bleak the future looked for his Autobots.

"Nah, she... she died not long after Tessa was born." Cade focused on his shoes and crossed his arms. "We thought it was just the flu or something at first, but... obviously not." When he looked up again there was wetness in his eyes that he tried to blink away.

"June. That was her name." His voice had gone quiet, and Optimus leaned in closer to hear without straining his audios. "When we were younger I called her June Bug, cause she always had them around her in the summer. I had a lot of girlfriends before her, but... she was my best friend before them all. Hair like a field of wheat during harvest season, and the greenest eyes I ever saw." He laughed again, sadly this time. "When we were in high school, she... she worked in the fields with her dad, making some extra cash. She always smelt like hay, coming in late to class." He coughed as his voice suddenly cracked, and tried clearing his throat as he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. Optimus always found it curious how humans were so adamant about hiding their tears- especially when their eyes only told a fraction of what emotions the rest of their body conveyed.

"My deepest condolences for your loss." True, that Prime had lost much more than a single human, but from how Cade spoke of his late wife he saw that their love was much deeper than what he had felt for his lost comrades. Especially when he knew what that love was like to bear...

"You ever have someone like that, Optimus?" Cade had managed to regain his composure and looked at Optimus with fresh dry eyes. "Any... family on Cybertron?"

She didn't have hair, but her armour shone like a sunset on glass rose petals. At the snap of soft digits her voice could be a gentle lilt across his berth in the middle of the night and then an ancient battle cry across a graveyard alive with gunfire.

And her optics.

Optics like the oceans on Earth that she never had a chance to see.

Her name passed his lips like the ghost of a kiss and lodged in his vocaliser, threatening to choke him with his own grief.

"...I did once."

Cade looked steadily at Optimus as the low rumble of his voice faded, almost recognising his sorrow. The Prime's helm was bowed, optics still open but burning fainter than before. The human made to say something, but a movement on the couch at the corner of his eye turned his words to a groan.

"TESSA, WHAT PART OF 'NO SMOOCHING' IS SO HARD FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND?"


End file.
